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Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

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  • Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed
• Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

• Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

  august > February 28th, 2012, 02:03 AM

  We used to talk about this all the time. Blastr.com has a list here.
  
  They included Flash Forward, 1 season on ABC, that tried to rip off the flash forward concept, and enlisted Brannon Braga to produce.
  
  There are the secret three alien invasion shows: Threshold on CBS (13 weeks, also produced by Braga) Invasion on ABC (22 weeks) and Surface on NBC (15 weeks.) The prblem? Lost had nothing to do with aliens, and that wasn't why people were watching.
  
  And the one blatant alien invasion show, ABC's remake of "V," including a cast member from Lost (2 seasons, but 22 weeks total.) Same [problem as above, plus bland writing, plus the original wasn't that successful either.
  
  And another "disguised alien invasion show: NBC's The Event (22 weeks) - see above.
  
  Then there was a "strangers thrust together in a conspiracy theory" show called Persons Unknown, that I never heard of, and apparently few viewers did either - it was a summer replacement show (really just a big mini-series) under-marketed and under-watched - it lasted 13 weeks. And of course, most of the conspiracy theories about Lost were incorrect anyway.
  
  They don't mention the short-lived ABC series Six Degrees, that lasted 13 weeks, and tried to play up on the "hidden connections among the characters" theme of Lost... except that didn't relate much to the overal plot of Lost either. :laugh:
  
  They do include Fox's series Drive, that lasted 4 weeks only. I remember it debuting, and it starred Nathan Fillion and was produced by Tim Minear (Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly, X-Files) but I got no impression that it was a genre show.
  
  And then they do include Dollhouse, which lasted two full (half) seasons! :clap: I never thought there was any overt attempt to copy Lost, but it did feature changing locales and scenarios, and a larger story arc, so perhaps some similarity, if coincidental. This is a very good point they make:
  
  
  

  Quote:Why it failed: The world just wasn't ready for this one, and heck, considering Whedon's record, it's a miracle season two even happened. The concept proved too "out there" for the casual viewer, and after initial curiosity passed, not enough viewers stuck around for the long haul. When Fox put the show on hold during sweeps, the period where advertising rates are determined, fans knew the end was nigh. Luckily, the network did give Whedon ample notice to wrap up the story with a satisfying conclusion, which jumped into the future to show how Dollhouse technology would eventually ruin the world.

• Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

  Michael > March 5th, 2012, 01:39 PM

  I could rail against cheap production values but having never watched any of those shows (except for a little Dollhouse, which aired at inconvenient times for me), for all I know they had GREAT production values. Except when I did try to watch Surface it bored me to tears.
  
  Perhaps the problem with launching these shows is that they are too closely following ideas that have already been done (of course, there are only 37 basic plots to work with regardless of the genre you write for). I never did get into Lost but I knew a few people who just loved the show. The bottom line, I suppose, is that the show has to connect with a large enough audience.
  
  I don't have a formula for that.

• Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

  august > March 5th, 2012, 05:21 PM

  Yep, that's really true - there is no actual formula, which is why when people try to follow what they think is a formula, they usually fail.
  
  All of those shows were network shows, so they had primo production values just due to assorted DGA, SAG, IATSE etc. union regs. A good many (Lost included) didn't really require a lot of special effects all the time, so when they did need some, they usually had the $$ to do it well. Like whatever the creature was in the bathtub, in whichever invasion show that was, and the hovering (and non-moving) spaceships in "V," and the one big lush Dollhouse set (which honestly looked like it was recucled from the old Wolfram and Hart set anway.)
  
  With Lost, there are definitely a few things they did that seemed to be key to their success, and these wasn't necessarily replicated by their imitators (or even attempted) :
  
  - they hired really talented writers and directors, who may or may not have had a lot of experience, either in general, or specifically on genre shows.
  
  - they focused on character-centric issues from day one, and teased the bigger mysteries for years.
  
  - they hired really talented actors, some of whom had been around the block many times (Matthew Fox, Daniel Dae Kim, Terry O'Quinn, Emilie de Ravin) but for whatever reason had never attracted much critical acclaim, and some of whom were rookies for whom this was a huge break (Yunjin Kim, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia.)
  
  - they avoided the overwhelming majority of the genre stuff for the first two years, and introduced it only in teeny, "acceptable" tidbits.
  
  - they appealed to random people on day one, and created their own fans, without having to worry about what "the fans" wanted. In other words, the people who watched all the way through the first two hours and didn't tune out were by definition now "fans," and liked what the creators were doing.

• Shows that tried to be the next "Lost" - but failed

  Michael > March 6th, 2012, 06:12 AM

  I guess we can now add Terra Nova to the list.
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